Strengthening, but not quite to the same level as the overall industry.

That’s the story around wholesale prices and retention for electric vehicles this spring, according to the latest AuctionNet data from the National Auto Auction Association.

Overall wholesale auction prices came in at $20,200 in May, NAAA said, which was down 2.1% from April. That’s the same sequential decline as a year ago, according to the association but not as steep as May 2023 and May 2024, when the average monthly decline was 2.8%.

And wholesale prices have climbed 1.5% since the beginning of the year and “remain relatively stable,” says Larry Dixon, who is NAAA’s vice president of Auction Data SolutionAuctionNet

A similar trajectory has been observed among EVs.

“After underperforming the broader market during the first quarter, electric vehicle (EV) wholesale prices strengthened over the past two months, particularly for Tesla models, which account for the majority of EV auction sales volume,” Dixon said in analysis around the AuctionNet data.

He gives the example of Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y vehicles form the 2023 model-year.

Despite overall wholesale values falling the aforementioned 2.1% from April, these value of these vehicles climbed 1.3%.

EV retention is also on the rise, at least sequentially. In May, the retention of 3-year-old EVs was at 42.6%, which is more than 1 percentage point stronger than where it was in April, according to NAAA.

Still, consider this: the overall industry average for 3-year retention in May was 58.1%.

Looking at a different data set, Cox Automotive’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index shows that wholesale prices for EVs were up 11.9% year-over-year in May, compared to a 3.0% rise for non-EVs.

What’s more, EV values rose 3.5% month-over-month, Cox said, while non-EV prices were flat sequentially.

Specifically, the EV index in the Cox/Manheim report was 212.6, while the non-EV index was at 150.8.

In analysis around the index, Cox says, “the story in May was the continued strength of EVs at Manheim.  Even with more availability, strong EV performance continues.”

Analysts later added, “Both EV and non-EV (indices) continue to see elevated prices against this time last year, with EVs showing continued strength in the last month while non-EVs held steady.”